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Minutes of the Annual General
Meeting of the
New Zealand Petanque Association
Incorporated, held at
Sport Wellington, 113 Adelaide
Road, Wellington,
Saturday 19 April 2008, 9.30am.
Present:
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Regional Delegates:
Michael Rocks
(Lower North Island – Chair),
Diane Findlay
(Canterbury/Marlborough/Tasman);
Lorraine Brock (Upper North
Island), Ron Thompson (Southern)
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Executive:
Bryan Wells (CEO),
Brian Smith (Treasurer), Barbara
Whittington (Secretary).
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Members:
Fay Doyle
(Incoming Lower North Island
Delegate), Gwen Hill, Beverley
Mason, Jan McHardy, David
Lippard, Graeme Morris
Apologies:
None.
Minutes of previous meeting:
Previously
distributed; taken as read.
Moved as true and correct record
of meeting Michael Rocks;
seconded Lorraine Brock.
Approved unanimously
Matters Arising:
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Deals with airlines –
Barbara noted that she had
been contacted by the
business division of Flight
Centre who were interested
in seeing if they could do
something for us. She has
not yet managed to meet with
them.
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The amendment to the
Constitution relating to the
timing of PNZ’s AGM needs to
be filed with the Registrar
of Incorporated Societies.
Reports:
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Chief
Executive Officer’s Report
Bryan Wells
tabled and read his report, and
moved its adoption; seconded Ron
Thompson.
Discussion:
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Diane noted that there is
now an informal association
of clubs in the
Canterbury/Marlborough/Tasman
area
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Brian agreed with the
sentiments expressed in the
report about the workload
and the lack of people to do
the work
-
Diane endorsed this, and
noted that this is common to
many if not most voluntary
organisations.
The report
was accepted by the meeting.
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Financial
Report
Brian Smith
presented the Treasurer’s report
and audited accounts for the
year ended December 2007. Brian
spoke to his report, and moved
its adoption. Seconded Ron
Thompson.
Discussion:
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Michael
asked where the income on
PNZ investments was shown.
Brian said that it is the
“interest” item in “Other
Income” in the PNZ Ledger
(approx $2,000 for the
year).
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Michael
asked why the Senior
Selector’s airfares were in
Tournament expenses, as they
are not really a cost of
holding a tournament, but of
running the selection
process for the Senior
squad. Brian said that there
isn’t really any other place
to put it at the moment, but
agreed that it would be more
appropriate in a “selection
process” cost item.
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Brian
noted that the Auditor had
commented on the high
standard of the accounting
system and presentation of
accounts.
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Brian
advised that the Auditor is
getting information on what
if any changes PNZ has to
make as a result of the new
Charitable Trust legislation
in order to continue to be
exempt income tax.
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Fay
congratulated Brian on the
excellent presentation of
the accounts, ease of
reading and understanding.
Bryan Wells endorsed this.
The accounts
were accepted by the meeting.
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Chairman’s
Report
Michael
tabled and read his report,
which was accepted by the
meeting
He noted that
PNZ needs to look at how we
present our reports generally;
suggested that there should be
an Annual Report that can be
presented to external
stakeholders such as SPARC,
sponsors, especially if PNZ
wants to move into a more
professional structure and
outlook.
He tabled a
suggested structure for such a
report. David Lippard suggested
that it could be a good idea to
have a template via which
regions could report on
activities and issues in their
regions during the year.
Membership
Fees
Brian Smith
moved that the affiliation fees
remain at $6 per member for the
year ending December 2009.
Seconded Diane Findlay. Approved
unanimously.
Brian noted
that while PNZ can sustain this
level of fee for the next year,
after that it is likely that
there will have to be an
increase.
Lorraine
noted that if fees get too high,
some “social” clubs may decide
not to affiliate, and PNZ may
lose income overall. It was
agreed that this may be a
possibility, but the level of
fees is very low compared to
other sporting organisations,
and there are ways of handling
the situation.
Michael noted
that the need for any increase
in fees would have to be
justified to members.
Appointment
of Officers
Michael noted
that PNZ has not actually worked
out how the process works in
terms of appointments and
succession planning, how the
Executive is managed. There was
a discussion on the relative
roles of the Council and
Executive; Michael distributed
information from the SPARC
website on governance and
relationships.
The following
were re-appointed to their
positions for the next 12 months
(until 2009 AGM):
Auditor
Brian Smith
advised that Barry Howatson of
Laurenson & Co Upper Hutt was
available to audit the
Association’s accounts and moved
that he be appointed as Auditor
for the next year. Agreed
unanimously.
Remits
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Remit 1(a)
The remit
that the ruling body of PNZ be
changed to a single Board
consisting of a President,
Vice-president and 3 other
Directors was discussed.
Delegates
noted the need to ensure that
members feel enfranchised, able
to make their views heard. It
was noted that under the new
system there is actually more
opportunity for representation
of regional views, because it
allows for more regions.
It was noted
that no significant cost
increase was expected in
operating the new system
compared to the current one.
Diane
observed that the Canterbury
Region would under the new
system vote for the best
qualified person for the job,
regardless of where they come
from. She also noted that
Regional Delegates will have
input into the detailed design
of the new structure and can
address concerns about the
voting process and club
representation.
The Southern
and Canterbury regional
delegates indicated that they
would vote in favour of the
remit. LNI and UNI delegates
said that they had been
instructed by their member clubs
to vote against it. A vote was
taken and the remit was rejected
(5 votes for, 10 against). The
meeting then adjourned. On
resumption, Lorraine advised
that she had reconsidered her
position and asked that her vote
be changed to one of support.
The final vote was therefore 10
votes for, 5 against.
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Remit 1(b)
The remit
that the National
Council/Executive finalise the
voting process under the new
arrangements, and draft the
necessary changes to the
Constitution, to be passed at a
Special General Meeting later
this year was discussed. There
was some discussion as to
whether the time limit imposed
too tight a deadline. Barbara
noted that without a time limit,
there is tendency to let things
slip, and if the new structure
is to be in place for the 2009
AGM, the changes need to be
passed before the end of 2008.
Remit put to
the vote and carried
unanimously.
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Remit 2
Barbara spoke
to this remit, noting that it
was largely administrative, to
clarify the issue of who can be
a member of PNZ.
The remit was
carried, subject to legal
scrutiny of the changes to the
Constitution.
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Remits 3 – 30
Barbara noted
that many of these remits more
properly come under Council
business, rather than the
business of an AGM. It was
agreed that these remits would
be passed to the Council for
consideration, except:
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Remit 6
An
amendment was moved by the
Executive and seconded by
Diane, limiting the
confirmation to 2008 only.
The amendment was passed.
The amended motion, that the
international representation
process be confirmed for
2008 was passed
unanimously. So for any
international tournaments
that PNZ decides to send a
team to in 2008, the process
will be as stated in the
current policy on the
website.
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Remit
24
It was
agreed in principle that PNZ
Council meetings be held in
turn in each of the regions,
with a half-day open to
interested members. This
decision was then referred
to the National Council for
consideration when setting
their annual programme of
meetings. Diane noted that
it would provide an
excellent opportunity to
present and explain the
proposed governance changes.
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Remit
27(a)
It was
agreed that the petanque
playing season be defined as
October to April
(inclusive).
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Remit
27(b)
It was
agreed that the Council
should investigate whether
PNZ’s operating year should
be changed.
Other
business
Diane Findlay
moved, seconded Ron Thompson, a
vote of thanks to Michael Rocks
for all his work on the Council
and for PNZ, and expressed the
hope that he would consider
continuing to be involved in
some way in the organisation.
There being
no further business, the meeting
closed at 2.30pm
Barbara
Whittington
Secretary |
